3.6 Health education

The poor were not the only targets of health education. Campaigns against tuberculosis and venereal disease were aimed at all classes. Advice was dispensed through exhibitions, lectures, classes, posters, radio talks and films. Tuberculosis, the public was told, was best combated by a generally healthy lifestyle – fresh air, exercise and hygiene. The 1939 film Stand Up and Breathe, made by the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis (NAPT), promoted all sorts of outdoor recreation as a means of guaranteeing health. Venereal disease could be avoided by restricting sexual activity. Campaigns sought to inform the public of the dire effects of VD – some exhibitions included graphic wax models of syphilitic lesions – in the hope that people would refrain from sex outside marriage, or, if they became infected, that they would come forward for treatment. In this educational material, ‘loose’ women were often portrayed as the source of infection, trapping vulnerable men (Figure 6). Innocent wives were the ultimate victims of VD. Infected by philandering husbands, they had sick or stillborn children (Davidson and Hall, 2001).

Figure 6 Poster warning of the dangers of syphilis, c.1930. The text reads: ‘Syphilis is a social scourge. Its victims are innumerable. Many suffer from it without knowing. Syphilis among parents is one of the main causes of sickness and death among newborn children and infants. A great number of chronic infections originate in syphilis. Syphilis is a serious disease, but fortunately curable. For those infected it is a duty to obtain treatment and to avoid transmitting the disease.’ Notice the image of a glamorous woman, with fashionable haircut, makeup and jewellery, set against the less detailed image of the man. Women who had sex outside marriage – often pejoratively called ‘amateur prostitutes’ or ‘problem girls’ – were frequently blamed for infecting men with syphilis. Wellcome Library, London

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Figure 6

Figure 6 Poster warning of the dangers of syphilis, c.1930. The text reads: ‘Syphilis is a social scourge. Its victims are innumerable. ...